Paddy procurement picks up pace in Amritsar district

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 28

As the harvesting of paddy has picked up pace in the district, different grain markets here have witnessed an arrival of 3,76,938 metric tonne of agricultural produce. The district Mandi Board officials stated that of the total arrival, 3,76,188 MT of paddy has already been procured by the government procurement agencies.

Rishi Raj Mehra, district Food and Civil Supplies Controller (DFSC) said Rs 495.47 crore has already been disbursed to farmers in lieu of the procured paddy. He added that as reported in a section of media, the district grain markets have no shortage of gunny bags and the procurement has been going on smoothly.

The DFSC added that Pungrain had procured a total of 1,29,090 MT of crop, while Markfed had procured 94,238 MT. Punsup has purchased 81,116 MT while Punjab Warehousing Corporation has procured 50103 MT. The Central Government agency Food Corporation of India has procured only 8,792 MT of paddy.

The DFSC further stated that Pungrain had disbursed Rs 107.07 crore, Markfed Rs 134.33 crore, Punsup Rs 107.35, Punjab Warehouse corporation Rs 77.39 crore and Food Corporation has disbursed Rs 0.44 crore. He said payments have been made directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.

He added that around 80 per cent of the procured crop had been lifted from the grain markets and shifted to godowns. He added that procurement agencies have been asked to further expedite the lifting process. Meanwhile, the grain markets in the district have also seen arrival of 1.65 lakh MT of basmati. The basmati varieties are purchased by private players only as these are not covered under the MSP.